La Profanation de l'hostie (Profanation of the Host), circa 1930

Painted circa
1930.


Both Dali’s strained relationship with the Catholic Church and his turbulent relationship with his conservative father are addressed in this work painted circa 1930. Here, upon a gradient polychrome ground, a blasphemous desecration of the consecrated Eucharist takes place. Committing what is considered severe sacrilege by the Church, a figure, almost certainly a self-portrait, emits blood red-tinged saliva upon the host and into a chalice. This self-portrait, the motif of which first appeared in The Great Masturbator (1929), is repeated in three other instances in the work, bursting forth from the central form. Foregrounded in the work is a shame-ridden figure, perhaps representing the artist’s father, portrayed in shadow as a half-dressed youth. Highly personal iconography is included throughout the composition—including direct reference to the artist’s childhood phobia of grasshoppers. While the inclusion of ants crawling across the central form symbolize Dalí’s ever present fear of death and decay.